Exceptional piece of furniture, also known as Cartonnier
Crafted and designed by the cabinetmaker and furniture designer Georges Francois Alix (1846−1906), with the clock by CH. Dutertre.
Elaborately executed salon furniture in oak, veneered with mahogany, with multiple mirrored veneer surfaces, large tambour doors, the upper part with numerous curves and counter-curves tapering upwards, executed in masterful craftsmanship quality and crowned by a clock.
The upper part is fitted with six drawers of various sizes, adapting to the form of the furniture, covered with leather and adorned with a gold embossed border.
The entire piece is richly decorated with gilded bronze fittings.
The crowning clock, with an extremely fine half-hour strike, is signed on the dial “CH. DUTERTRE A PARIS.”
Georges Francois Alix (1846−1906):
Georges Francois Alix was initially based at 46 Rue de Charonne, then at 6 Rue Richard Lenoir from 1878 onwards. He participated in many significant exhibitions, including those in Paris in 1884, 1885, and 1889. There are numerous references to Francois Alix, including in the archive of the prominent cabinetmaker and furniture maker Francois Linke.
After Francois Alix’s death in 1906, Linke purchased a multitude of his wooden models, which he then used to create his own furniture.
Some of these models have survived in the Linke archive…
Francois Linke also acquired the design of the so-called “Meuble Soleil” by Alix, which was inspired by a design by Jean Henry Riesner.
References: Documentation Francois Linke “The Belle Epoque of French Furniture” p. 436, 437; Christopher Payne “Paris Furniture: The Luxury Market of the 19th Century” p. 191.
